Theology of the 32nd Century

[Tassu]

Theology of the 32nd Century

Tao of Shinsei

“The truth of the world can be found sitting at the riverside, The river never begins, the river never ends. All of life is like the river, lessons never begin and lessons never end.”
- Tao of Shinsei

Despite sharing the canonical story of how the Empire of Rokugan came to be and how the Kami first fell to ningen-do, the Empire of the Emerald Stars does not have a strictly unified theological corpus. While the esteemed and revered Brotherhood upholds the teachings of Shinsei, it also allows each of its many sects to draw slightly different conclusions from the same canonical text. In many ways, the Brotherhood is loath to establish a strict Taoist canon, considering such a thing anathematic to Shinsei’s work. The only exception is an expectation of adherence to the Book of Duties, which lists the laws governing monk behavior. This openness means that only the most radical preachers and demagogues are ever excommunicated; though it should be noted that such decisions are rarely only theological in nature. more often the influence wielded by the Great Clans forces the hand of the Brotherhood in such matters. This means that hundreds of sects, both large and small exist in a harmony of sorts across the Empire, and while religious tensions sometimes flare into violence, for the most part such conflicts are more related to the wider political situation than actual religious fervor.

The Book of the Soul was written by the Phoenix, hoping to resolve discrepancies of theology and practice between adherence to the Tao and worship of the kami. It has proven to be contentious; which has lead to widely varied interpretations of how the Fortunes, Ancestors, and other spirits act upon ningen-do, while never disputing the existence of any such spirits. Most of the sects are de-facto defined by how they interpret Book of the Soul. Many Fortunist monks and those adherent to Fortunist temples tend to believe in a literal interpretation of Fortunes - that invoking the name of any Fortune could draw their attention to the devout and that all Fortunes are able to influence the fate of individuals, at least if offered appropriate prayers and shrine goods. There are dozens of sects that accept the notion that the Thousand Fortunes are all connected to the Seven Fortunes, but maintain that each deity can act independently. This relatively popular dogma is known as Panfortunism by scholars and theologians. Temples of the Thousand Fortunes and Order of Rebirth are the largest and the most widespread Panfortunist sects.

Meanwhile the so-called Sevenists believe in the primacy of the Seven Fortunes, considering all lesser Fortunes as mere intermediaries of the Seven and believe that lesser Fortunes were created by the Seven to do their bidding or to embody certain aspects of their divinity, denying the widespread claim that the lesser Fortunes have agency of their own. The Order of the Seven Fortunes is the largest and best known Sevenist sect, but smaller orders such as the Temple of Heavenly Wisdom and Autumn Leaf Temple are ubiquitous across the Empire. Generally speaking Sevenists and Panfortunists get along well as both dogmas abhor violence and encourage the devout to seek Enlightenment through contemplation and inner harmony.

The Taoist sects do acknowledge the existence of Fortunes, but devote their lives to contemplating and understanding the Tao itself, focusing particularly on the Book of Discussions, which details conversations Shinsei held with the Kami, in hopes of gleaning a deeper understanding of the universe and its rules though these teachings. This scholastic and somewhat abstract approach means that the Taoist sects have a relatively small following in the Empire at large. However, as it is customary for high-ranking samurai to retire into Taoist temples, the large monasteries and their abbots wield far more power than one might expect, given their numbers. The Four Temples complex on Rokugan is a major player in Brotherhood politics, with the head abbot of the temple considered the most senior among their peers.

Students of the Tao can be divided roughly into two dogma - the Ascetics and the Mendicants.The Ascetics argue that the mortal world is nothing but a distraction from Shinsei's wisdom, meaning that those seeking true enlightenment should practice self-denial and withdrawal. They see the secular world and its many temptations as inimical to Enlightenment. The Shrine of the Seven Thunders is the oldest and most well-known of the Ascetic sects, but many smaller sects such as the Order of Eternity and Pure Song Temple also exist.

Mendicants, on the other hand, believe that nothing can be truly learned or taught without engaging the world on its own terms, often believing that the Brotherhood should strive to be a force guiding the Empire toward wisdom and understanding. The Four Temples sect is the wealthiest and most influential Mendicant sect, its members serving as advisors across the Empire. The Pure Land Sect and the Order of the Nameless Gift are examples of less influential, but widespread and well-known sects that often seek opportunities to help and guide the downtrodden masses.

Again, one might be tempted to believe that the more scholarly and ascetic side of the Brotherhood would not involve itself with the politics of the Empire. The truth could not be further from this as the ranks of even the Ascetic orders are inevitably filled with retired nobility.

Elemental spirits

"One does not choose to become a shugenja, nor does a shugenja wield magic. The shugenja is merely the tool; it is the kami who choose when and where to use him."

-Shiba Ningen, Master of the Void

In a world where elemental spirits guide ships across the sea of stars and power the furnaces providing energy for continent-spanning cities, humanity's fate is ineluctably intertwined with the Elements. How a given shugenja regards the elemental spirits depends upon the tradition they were schooled in as well as the sensei they studied under.

Some age-old shugenja traditions are rather pragmatic, considering the spirits as nothing but entities one can bargain with. Kuni and Yoritomo shugenja are often considered to have a rather transactional relationship with these spirits; the priests of both traditions considering humanity to have a mandate to rule over nature, including the spirits that make up the world. The tradition that the Kuchiki shugenja follow resembles that of the Kuni, and the Spider priests have no qualms disregarding the will of elemental spirits in pursuit of their own aims. These three traditions believe that the primary expression of heaven’s will is through human actions, meaning that as long as the elemental kami yield and obey the priest, the action taken was condoned by the Heavens themselves. Shugenja belonging to these so called pragmatic traditions assert that while Fortunes can and will act through the elements, the elements themselves aren’t sacred in the sense the Fortunes themselves are.

Crane and Phoenix traditions consider the elemental kami sacred and somewhat above the mundane, their prayers often beseeching the aid of the spirits rather than commanding them. Asahina, Asako and Isawa consider spellcraft a form of worship, often carrying incense and other suitable offerings to appease the kami before calling upon them. Elemental spirits are considered divine, seen as the means by which Fortunes enact their will, and thus connected with the Celestial Order itself. This also means that responses to sacred prayers are assumed to reflect the will of the Heavens and that the priest's relationship with the elements reflects their relationship with the Heavens themselves. Should the will of the kami contradict the will of the shugenja, the priest is expected to placate and sooth the spirits to avoid offending the Heavens. Moshi shugenja share many beliefs with the Crane and the Phoenix, though they also consider the elemental kami to have a particular and unique relationship with the Jade Sun and believe fire spirits to be particularly sacred as they represent Heaven’s Light on earth.

Yogo beliefs largely mirror those of the Phoenix as their labyrinthine and somewhat cabalistic dogma can be considered an offshoot of the Isawa tradition. Many of Isawa’s writings have been transmitted religiously through the generations of Yogo shugenja, and while those generations of morose philosophers have shaped how the Yogo view reality, none among the family dispute the ties that bind Fortunes to the Elements. The enigmatic Soshi, meanwhile, are far more pragmatic in their approach. Their relationship with the spirits can perhaps be best described as a mutually beneficial arrangement. Soshi priests are quite willing to entertain the whimsical nature of the air kami as long as the spirits keep their part of the bargain. In some ways, Soshi dogma teaches its priests to flatter and bribe the spirits to establish a more personal connection when possible, a view that presents the elements as far more human in their motivations than most traditions.

Kitsu see their ability to speak with their ancestors a sign of Heaven's favor and thus consider the elemental kami to be sacred. After all, without the spirits of water no priest could ever hope to pierce the veil between the Ningen-do and the blessed Yomi. This means that while the Lion shugenja command the kami in much the same way as their colleagues, their prayers and incantations are often dotted with reverential and devotional expressions. Kitsu tradition also emphasizes the importance of appropriate offerings in establishing a harmonious relationship with the local spirits.

Agasha and Tamori share many common traditions and sacred texts, including the rather esoteric Mono no Bun dogma, a belief that most elemental spirits are part of the whole. Water kami do not exist without the oceans nor does the ocean exist without the spirits that dwell within. This belief is the basis of Nazo Bubun no Agasha, though it took centuries for the Agasha to actually draw the connection between their beliefs and the way the physical world is made manifest. With the elemental spirits considered part of the mundane and with mankind having the mandate of Heavens to rule on earth, both Agasha and Tamori believe they can manipulate the elements as they see fit. However, both traditions make some exceptions,
believing that some old elemental spirits tied to select sacred places are above the mundane and should be given due respect.

The esoteric Tonbo tradition meanwhile emphasizes how the nature of the world is tied to impermanence. Consequently, their views on how the world is made manifest are in constant, if slow, change. Tonbo believe that knowledge and true insight must be ultimately gleaned from experience, and while they study the writings of Isawa and Agasha, they do not allow themselves to rely solely on words scribbled on paper. These philosophies and beliefs result in a religious culture that is as individualistic as it devoted to the Dragon.

Moto shugenja stand apart from their peers, their beliefs shaped by Ujik-Hai traditions. Unlike many Fortunist traditions, the Moto Death Priests understand the elemental kami to be separate from the Fortunes and their direct influence, believing instead that the elemental spirits reflect the will of the Shi-Tien Yen-Wang in much the same way as a still lake reflects the light of the moon. This means that the Moto consider it possible to infer the will of the Lords of the Death by communing with the elemental spirits that inhabit ningen-do. Meanwhile the Iuchi tradition is an eclectic collection of Rokugani dogma mixed with long dead gaijin beliefs. Modern Iuchi base all of their magical interpretations on the Tao, placing great emphasis on the Book of the Soul in particular. Curiously, many old copies of the Tao in the Battue libraries differ from the canonical versions found elsewhere. Unlike their Moto cousins, the Iuchi consider the elemental kami mostly sacred, though they often measure the holiness of a given spirit by its power.


Ancestor Worship


“Trust your ancestors with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways heed to their guidance.”
Ikoma Fuyumi, Ikoma daimyo

Ancestor worship can be best described as a folk religion and as such has no centralized power structure or dogmatic organization outside the Lion clan. Those honorable dead who have performed great and heroic deeds are widely believed to live on in Yomi and watch over their descendants. The Spider alone differ from the rest of the Empire, as the children of Dark Mirror believe that the venerable dead take their place at Daigotsu’s side, granting their strength to him and him alone. However, the Dark Thorn sect believes that the master of Jigoku enacts his will upon ningen-do through the honored souls by his side and so some Spider samurai homes have shrines dedicated to familial ancestors. This dogma is poorly known and understood outside the Spider holdings as Dark Thorn monks rarely leave the cities surrounding their monasteries.

Generally speaking, all samurai seek a lasting relationship with their ancestors to a greater or lesser degree. However, whether a samurai credits his or her good fortune to the ancestors or the Fortunes depends on the beliefs the individual holds. Both ancestral worship and Fortunism exist in harmony as it is generally understood that spirits may not act across realms without the intercession of the Fortunes in some fashion; not that the average worshipper thinks much about such things, but the Brotherhood has devoted time and thought to the theological issues involved. Most households will have a shrine for their own ancestors; though outside the Lion, the ways families venerate their honorable dead vary considerably even within the great houses of the Empire. Some legendary heroes even have grand shrines in lands not their own. Nominally these shrines are erected in hopes of having the powerful spirits of these legends watch over the surrounding lands, but in reality few temples are ever built without some sort of political motivation.